|
|
|
South Skyline Association
http://www.southskyline.org
April 2003
Thanks and Congratulations to Pat CongdonPat Congdon, SSA President for more than a year, has regretfully announced his resignation as President because of the press of his new duties with the Santa Clara Open Space Authority. On Thursday, March 13, Pat was appointed as the General Manager for the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority. Congratulations Pat!!! Pat's courtesy, tact, and respect for others will make him invaluable in his new position, and we all appreciate his technical knowledge and training, and know he will do a fantastic job. Pat left the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) 2 1/2 years ago to join Santa Clara Open Space Authority as resource manager. Their board was quick to recognize Pat's diplomatic and knowledgeable approach to solving tasks. When the position of General Manager became open, the board first appointed Pat as Acting General Manager, and now permanent General Manager. Pat has always been a good neighbor involved in helping the Skyline community. Pat's 20 years as a South Skyline Fire and Rescue Volunteer is the mark of his commitment to help those in need during emergencies. South Skyline Association will miss his leadership and we are grateful for his years of service to our community. We hope that Pat and his wife Bunny will stay active in SSA because they have been such assets to this mountain community. SSA Adopts Neutral Position on Open Space Expansion PlanIn January 2003, the SSA Board of Directors sent a letter to MROSD endorsing the concept of expanding District boundaries as it affects the South Skyline Association area. As of February 2003, the SSA has adopted a position of neutrality with respect to the expansion proposal, neither supporting nor opposing it. This position has been taken because there is such a strong polarization within the Skyline community. A letter was sent to MROSD with a copy to LAFCO asking them to remove the endorsement letter from their files. If Skyline residents are strongly opposed or in favor of the MROSD expansion proposal, SSA encourages them to contact the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to express their individual views.
Dana Pitchon Photography Featured in this Issue
|
|
December |
1.179 |
|
January |
1.269 |
|
February |
1.289 |
|
March 1 |
1.489 |
|
March 12 |
1.609 |
|
March 15 |
1.689 |
|
March 26 |
1.419 |
|
April 1 |
1.369 |
The current open market price is $2.49/gallon. Conserve!
Prices are subject to changes as frequently as wholesale prices change. Reported here are usually prices for the first week of the month. See http://www.southskyline.org/spug.html for recent updates. Members 55 years of age or older qualify for a 5 cent/gallon discount on the SPUG group price. Our SPUG rate is based on automatic regular route deliveries on a keep-full basis, not "will call" service. At the beginning of the rainy season be sure to alert Amerigas if your access roads are treacherous when wet. Amerigas will arrange for deliveries to insure you do not run out of propane. Phone Amerigas at 1-800-660-1252.
For the second year in a row, California's most important land conservation program is being threatened because of the state's ongoing fiscal crisis. Officially known as the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, but commonly called the Williamson Act, this state law is one of the most unique protection laws in the country. The Williamson Act requires on ongoing 10 or 20 year commitment by landowners to keep the land in agricultural, ranching, or open space use in return for reduction of property tax based on the income producing capability of the land, significant tax relief to participating land owners.
Although Governor Davis says he supports the Williamson Act, his budget eliminated the Subventions (payments/subsidies) to cities and counties, not just for this budget year, but permanently. The legislature's response has been swift and predictable, essentially telling Davis that while they understand the need for budget cuts, they are not interested in the de facto repeal of the Williamson Act.
Please write a letter or email to Governor Davis with your opinion about fully funding the Williamson Act subventions in his May revision of his proposed State Budget. It is also important to send copies of your letters to Senator Mike Machado, Chair of the State Agriculture and Water Committee; Assembly member Barbara Matthews, Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee; and John Gamper, California Farm Bureau Federation.
Honorable Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento CA 95814John Gamper
California Farm Bureau Federation
1127 11th Street, Suite 626
Sacramento CA 95814
Honorable Mike Machado
California State Senate
State Capitol Building
Sacramento CA 95814
Honorable Barbara Matthews
California State Assembly
State Capital Building
Sacramento CA 95814
Representatives of SSA were invited to attend the March 10, 2003 Advisory Committee meeting chaired by Supervisor Rich Gordon, Margaret Taylor, Director of Health Services, and Dean Peterson, Manager of Environmental Health Department. On the agenda were discussions of triennial inspections of septic systems, meters on water wells, precisely locating wells and septic systems using GPS, and increase in fees to Environmental Health and Planning.
Priority areas for triennial inspection of septic tank systems targeted the La Honda area and Los Trancos Woods, due to development in smaller lots and less permeable sub-surface conditions. Ken Broome asked how many complaints had been received in the last year of malfunctioning systems. There have only been 5 or 6 complaints out of the 8000 systems in the county. We questioned the need for the triennial inspections. As a way to limit expense for the homeowner, we suggested that only the following reasons be used to require inspections; a) Complaints from neighbors, b) Change of ownership, c) Substantial additions or remodeling.
Dean Peterson said that water meters are required by County ordinance on all residential wells permitted beginning in 1987 but such a requirement has so far been waived. He said that in the future water meters would be required to provide data to prevent excessive draw down of the water table. Ken asked why water meters were needed when every new well had a record of water table elevation and sustainable yield in gallons per minute. No answer was given.
The Coastal Conservancy funded the effort to precisely locate wells and septic systems using GPS. With the funds exhausted, the program ended. No County money was used. The report is due in October 2003. SSA has criticized the program in the past finding it seriously flawed and ineffective in locating sources of pollution in streams.
Dean Peterson explained that in the past, the General fund provided the money to augment fees for services. With the State¹s budget crisis no money is expected from the state in the future. Fees will be increased two-fold for all permits after October 1, 2003.
~Respectfully submitted
by Ken Broome and Ruth Waldhauer
The South Skyline Fire and Rescue group responded to 156 emergency incidents last year. These included medical emergencies, traffic collisions, wildland fires, structure fires, and rescues to name a few. Many of these incidents required the patient to be carried from the accident to where an ambulance or helicopter could be accessed. We have been using an old stretcher to accomplish this activity and it was in need of replacement. The support of the South Skyline community has made it possible for our group to purchase a new emergency stretcher and wheel litter system. The new equipment was bought with your donations and as part of the Santa Cruz County matching funds program. This program allowed us to double our purchasing power. The South Skyline Association members have been outstanding with their donations and it is greatly appreciated. Again, thank you for your continued support.
~George Johnson
South Skyline Fire & Rescue
In Santa Cruz County backyard burning is allowed from December 1 to April 30 for one and two family dwellings only. The Felton Fire Protection District does not require a permit for this type of burning.
Burning is permitted only on days approved by the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District. To determine the current burn day status and burn information, phone 1-800-225-2876 (800-CAL-BURN).
Burning is permitted subject to the following Uniform Fire Code conditions:
This information in no way relieves your responsibilities to neighboring properties and to burn in the prescribed manner. Please be courteous of your neighbors. Notify your neighbors prior to burning. Stop burning if smoke drifts onto your neighbor's house and adversely impacts their property. Negligent burning may result in a fine and/or liability to pay for fire suppression costs.
Information obtained from http://www.feltonfire.com/
Volunteers in Prevention (VIP) is an arm of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF). Fire safety oriented, its mission is to organize interesting, informative programs aimed to reduce risk of fire. May and June Wildland-Fire-Hazard Inspections are scheduled during which VIPs will visit, with your permission, the surround of your home and discuss with you how best to protect the property during the upcoming fire season. Presently the first areas to be visited are Indian Trail and Oak Ridge. If there is interest, VIPs may be able to arrange for a chipper to help dispose of down brush along the main road way in the areas visited. Check the Skyline website for details in late April.
Phone Jan McNown, Fire Prevention Specialist, at the Felton CDF station 831 335 6726 for information
Currently scheduled activities:
Mid April - Training for the home Fire Safety Inspections.
April & May - School presentations
May & June - Wildland Fire Hazard Inspections
~Eva Blum
The subject of Barricade Fire Gel came up at an SSA meeting a year or two ago, at that time it wasn't being distributed in California. There may not be a local distributor, but it is sold on the Internet at http://www.barricadegel.com/. The cost is $199 for the basic kit with 3, 1 1/4-gallon bottles and $150 for refill kits of 4 bottles (they recommend one bottle for 500-700 square feet of wall). I just ordered (and received) the kits. The only caveat I have is that I'd like to have asked them to ship UPS, they defaulted to FedEx at ~$60. Otherwise I'm happy with the service.
~Ken Smith
Here is what I learned at the March meeting of the Santa Cruz Bioregional Council: finally the infective agent that causes browning of oak leaves and eventual death of the tree has been identified and named. It is a species of brown algae, Phytophthora ramorum. The bad news is that, in addition, a new, as yet unnamed Phytophthora has been found to infest oak as well; though not as lethal. More bad news? P. ramorum has been discovered in 26 host plants, including rhododendron, even redwoods and Doug fir. Infected bay trees appear to be a major culprit in the spread of the disease from host to susceptible oak. The spores are carried in mud; rain water, even streams harbor the spores. The most important vector is man (male and female). The problem is worldwide, amplified by globalization of commerce and tourism. In different regions and continents P. ramorum is deadly to other plant species than oak, just as in California tan, live, and shreve-oak are presently most at risk.
Want the rest of the bad news? There still are no preventive, or remedial therapies available. I asked the experts specifically about permethrin spray (Astro), recommended to me by two respected arborists to control bark and ambrosia beetles which invade diseased oak, on the theory that the trees would remain more resilient and resist infection. The answer: waste of your money; money in the arborist pocket. Ah well!
The good news is that research shows deer mice and pigeons that might carry the spores in fact do not. Deer mice refuse to walk in mud (and if forced, will lick themselves clean). I have forgotten why pigeons are not to be worried about. Other good news, research is continuing apace, under UC forest pathologists Matteo Garbelotto and David Rizzo who recently discovered the infective agent. A series of studies done by the Garbelotto research group in collaboration with the California Integrated Waste Management Board shows that plant material infected by P. ramorum is noninfectious once properly composted. Garbelotto recommends sanitation and spread- control as presently the most powerful methods to slow down sudden oak death.
What can a body do? The experts say with a shrug of discouragement: wipe/wash with a 10% bleach or Lysol spore-carrying mud from your boots, your bicycle or truck tires after an outing in the woods. Don't import or export dead oak wood to or from home. Want to know more? The California Oak Mortality Web site http://www.suddenoakdeath.org/ has the latest information.
~Eva Blum
Nesting activity is in high gear. Males are singing madly to attract a mate and to keep other males from honing in on their territory. Females, who have chosen a mate are building nests with all manner of materials. Leaves, pine needles, weeds, straw, grasses, mud and twigs. All these are the normal possibilities. If you've ever looked closely at a nest you might see some things not on the above list, but in the surrounding area. Dog hair, cat hair, fibers from trampolines, drier lint, yarn and even Easter basket grass.
Do you see birds flying by with great gobs of weeds, twigs or pine needles in their beaks? If you do, follow the birds with your eyes or with binoculars. Find out where they're nesting so you can watch their building progress and keep an eye out for the babies.
Nests are fascinating structures. Made of one or more of the materials listed above, they are intricately made by the birds using their beak and their feet. Robins use mud in the base for stability and in the top rim for strength. Along with the mud, Robins use coarse grass in the base, but use only fine, soft grass on the inside. Bushtits, those flocky, tiny brownish gray birds, build fascinating nests that look for all the world like dirty socks. They use all soft, lightweight materials because the nest hangs precariously from a branch by just a few pieces of moss. A long droopy structure, an opening has been made partway down from the top. Look for Dark-eyed Juncos nests on the ground in grassy areas. California Towhees build their large cup like nest almost entirely out of grass and place it fairly low to the ground in bushes. Ceanothus is a favorite bush.
Especially keep an eye out for the hummingbirds. Dad does his deed and leaves Mom to build the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the young. Since the nest is so small, you really have to watch her fly into the tree to see if she lands on a nest. Since she's a single mother, she also has to feed herself. She looks for feeders for the quick morning fix and then goes to find insects for protein and then it's back to incubate the eggs. When the babies hatch, she has the triple duty, because there are usually two eggs she has to feed them and herself. The babies need protein so she has to find lots of bugs. The insulating materials of the hummingbirds' nest is all important to keep babies warm while Mom goes off to feed. Lichen, spider webs and saliva make a nest about the diameter of the new Sacagawea dollar. It's only about 1/2" high. The most impressive part of all is how it blends into the branch on which it's put.
~ Freddy Howell
Trail plant, or pathfinder (Adenocaulon bicolor) is at home in the shade of mixed evergreen and redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
From bottom to top, fibrous roots lead to an array of triangular-ovate (spear-shaped) green leaves 1-6" long, and broad and angular at the base. On the underside are densely matted, wooly white hairs. The leaves are alternately attached to the lower stem with leaf stalks approximately as long as the leaves. Thin stems rise 1-3', branching along the way into a few tiny white flowers from May to September. Fruits appear June to October as tiny, sticky, green-black achenes.
Trail plant is a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae, and is found in most western states below 6000 ft. Santa Cruz is at the southernmost end of the range in the coastal mountains.
But trail plant, what kind of name is that? Why not sugar stars or fairy lights? The distinctive leaves give the plant its name. When someone walks by, breaks off and flips over one of the leaves, the white arrow points the way. At our house, trail plant lines the path to the garden compost pile, reminding me of chores still left undone.
~Sarah Schoen
Two upcoming events in our region will be of interest to many SSA members who are interested in drought-tolerant plants, as well as attracting birds and butterflies. These are sponsored by the California Native Plant Society
(CNPS) Santa Clara Valley Chapter & Santa Cruz Chapters:
For more information contact Georgia Stigall at 650-941-1068 or email gstigall@aol.com.
After the very popular appearance of Sophie the Peregrine Falcon and her handler Glen Stewart from the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group at the SSA General meeting on January 31, many Skyliners wanted the information on viewing the LIVE NEST WEBCAM that Glen told us about. You can link to this via the SCPBRG web site at http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/peregrine_cam.htm.
~Georgia Stigall
Information about plants and animals found in our region is now available in a privately-hosted Natural Resources Database at http://www.nrdb.org.
And on that note ... don't forget to look up! On 3/22/03 we watched an adult bald eagle flying just south of Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve.
~Georgia Stigall
http://www.skylonda-skylineliving.com
All South Skyline and Skylonda residents are invited to partake in an exciting new community website sponsored by Karin Bird, Broker with ReMax Pioneer-Skywood. It is a private access site which allows members to post classified ads, engage in chat topics, download photographs, enter events into a local calendar and much more.
The site offers a unique opportunity for the community to share thoughts, ideas, opinions and remedies in a town square type forum. It is ideally suited to our special neighborhood where we often are exposed to issues and concerns that are unique to our community and where we often turn to each other for recommendations and referrals.
One special feature of the site allows users to post documents to the site, for example, the Skylines Newsletter, emergency preparedness info and the like. These documents can then be viewed and or downloaded by members. The server will review all postings for content.
If you would like more detailed information about http://www.skylonda-skylineliving.com via fax, call 1-800-784-7205 and enter 777. Follow the prompts from there. There may be some limited space for users to post display ads at a nominal cost. Call Karin Bird at 851-8100 to discuss. Any thoughts or ideas regarding site content would be appreciated.
The propane bill arrives. It totals well over a thousand dollars. And it's the second delivery this
month. Ken and I shudder and ask each other if we are crazy and we agree that, indeed, we are. The fact is we're addicted - hooked - on working with hot glass.
The Santa Cruz Mountains offer many residents an opportunity to indulge in off beat activities that might be spurned in the flat lands, and glass blowing is a classic example. Last year, Ken and I decided to build a "hot shop" on our property along Highway 9 after taking a class from local artist Duncan MacKenzie in Bonny Doon. We knew that any challenges we undertook at home would be magnified as a result of our location. It seems that living here in the mountains is choosing the Black Diamond ski run path of life.
For our shop, first we had to maneuver all the heavy bulky materials up our dirt road - including a truckload of concrete - to create the metal shed, which could safely house our equipment. Next came discussions with a seemingly disorganized, then deregulated, then bankrupt PG&E to run power lines up from our house. We opted to purchase our own standby generator. The scattered carcasses of several smaller generators by our studio are evidence that we learned - the hard way - that the intermittent 4000-watt demands of our annealing oven required an ultra heavy-duty unit. At least in the heaviest winter storms, the thundering din of rain on our metal roof nearly drowns the noise of our behemoth generator.
Once we were up and running, we attracted the interest of other local residents. When we fired up our melting furnace a few weeks ago, I detected the familiar (!) scent of burning rat urine. As I went around back to check the horizontal exhaust flu, I heard a scuttling noise and then KAPOOF, a pack rat burst from the flu, legs and arms flailing like an Olympic long jumper.
And selling our work (in the futile hopes of covering our fuel costs) possesses similar challenges. When we drove to Holy City Art Glass on the weekend before Christmas to help owner Tom Stanton sell his glass ornaments and gifts, we found the Old Santa Cruz Highway closed due to tree-meets-power-line. The rain fell in sheets and a few loyal customers had to park across the street in a mud lot, dash past the police barricade and shop in Tom's ghostly showroom via flashlight.
But we keep at it. Now we're peddling our glass fish and vases in local galleries and we're working with Tom Stanton to host a huge glass pumpkin patch this fall on the lawn of the Los Gatos High School, with a portion of our proceeds donated to the school. If we haven't starved by then...
~Shelly Monfort
The Pescadero Education Foundation and La Honda Educational Foundation present "Gardens of
the South Coast: A tour of gardens in rural San Mateo County"
May 17th, 2003 10:00-4:00.
Enjoy a day in rural San Mateo County viewing a variety of unique private gardens that range from shade gardens nestled in the hills of La Honda to seaside cottage gardens in Pescadero. 17 gardens will be open, allowing tour participants to customize their tour by visiting gardens of interest.
Local plant specialist Tim Sullivan will share his knowledge of California natives. You can also participate in a guided tour through Green Oaks Farm's organic medicinal herb garden.
The Premium Tour includes a reception from 3:00 - 6:00 with tastings of locally produced wine by Jeanie Graham, and Harley Farms' award winning goat cheese accompanied by a lecture on "Pruning Tips" by Jack McKinnon, garden coach and San Mateo Arboretum Society Board Member.
Premium tour tickets $25.00
General admission tickets $15.00
Purchase tickets:
By calling: Wendy McConachie 650-747-0198
By mail: P.O. Box 225, La Honda, CA 94020
Please make checks payable to the La Honda Educational Foundation
Proceeds for this event benefit the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District. Members of our community are demonstrating their commitment to the success of our local schools by graciously opening their gardens and volunteering their time to help us reach our goal of $70,000. The funds being raised this year will pay for additional teaching staff, classroom aides, and T1 Internet service for the school district.
The Pescadero Education Foundation and La Honda Education Foundation are both non-profit 501c3 organizations.
Auction, Games, and Food
Lakeside School Community Foundation invites the mountain community to attend its annual Family Fun Day and Auction to be held Saturday May 31. This is the Lakeside Community Foundation's largest fundraiser, and is always a lot of fun.
The day will begin at 12:00with the silent auction, plant sale, carnival games, and a climbing wall.
The live auction will begin at 3:30 with spirited bidding on a variety of items from baseball tickets to garden structures.
At 6:00 there will be a barbeque dinner and live music.
They are also looking for donations of items and services to be sold at the auction. All donations are tax deductible. If you have something to donate, call Christine Krause
408-354-3309.
Lakeside is located on Black Road about 8 miles from Skyline Blvd. and 1.5 miles from the Bear Creek exit on Highway 17.
Spring has come early, soon the air will vibrate with the wing-beat of swarming, whirling, whining mosquitoes as they emerge from their winter lairs; and on their wing arrives the potential for the West Nile Virus (WNV). Santa Clara Health is spraying the marshes to prevent the spread of this mosquito-borne plague. Besides the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, there are 36 kinds of mosquito vectors of WNV. For our area the vectors are predominately Culex pipiens and farsalis. As of February 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have verified 4008 human cases of West Nile Virus since 2002, resulting in 263 deaths. And the virus is much more deadly in horses than in humans. U.C Davis equine experts recommend that horses be vaccinated in March and April.
But the worst carnage has been among wild and captive birds. Ornithologists, wildlife and endangered species biologists are worried. With the virus expected to hit California full force this year, Condor conservationists have taken an extraordinary step. They recently immunized several dozen of their precious captive birds with an experimental vaccine.
Scientists have found the virus, or antibodies to it, in 157 species of birds, 37 kinds of mosquitoes, and 18 other vertebrates, from horses to alligators. This is a minimal estimate because of methodological difficulties. Hardest hit have been crow species from raven to jay. Some have died in only 4 or 5 days. Survivors often carry the virus for weeks and could be reservoirs that move it across the country. Migratory birds may be the culprits in the WNV rapid advance westward.
Now the good news. In response to the threat, our San Mateo Mosquito Abatement District (SM-MAD) has applied to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) for an extension of its boundary to the balance of the county.
Presently the unincorporated area is not served. Our county supervisor, Rich Gordon, is a member of LAFCO and actively
supports this extension. Prior to LAFCO holding a final hearing, a few details must yet be agreed on. It is anticipated that the application may be ready at LAFCO's May 21 or July 16 meeting.
It is not too late to send your comments to Martha
Poyatos, CEO LAFCO, 455 County Center, Redwood City CA 94063 or e-mail to mpoyatos@co.sanmateo.ca.us.
With the reorganization of Pacific Bell into SPB, the company has implemented a computerized system to get physical addresses of all subscribers into its system. Problems in the system prevent many physical addresses to be entered. For instance, in my area of Portola Park Heights, the system computer is programmed to accept physical addresses on Long Ridge Road from 3300 to 3500 only. There are physical addresses here from 1000 to 5000, so the computer has taken all the physical addresses off all those accounts now between these numbers, and defaulted them back to the mailing address. SPB cannot change this back until they check with the county and then their programming department makes the change in the program. They tell me this can take at least one week. We found out about this when the repair technicians (who are frequent visitors) had no idea where we were located. About two years ago we thought we had solved the problem, but now it seems we must start over. The phone number to call SPB to check is 800-310-2355.
Everyone should also check to see that your physical address is still listed for 911 emergencies. Phone 911, say "it is not an emergency" and ask to verify your physical address.
~Respectfully submitted
by Ruth Waldhauer and Joe Davis
Classified Ads
FOR SALE
FREE
SERVICES
WANTED
LOST PETS
SERVICES
19500 Skyline Blvd., Woodside, CA 94062 (650) 851-1669 / fax (650)
Back to top
Skylines
Skylines
invites individuals to submit articles and artwork.
Policy on Classified Ads:
Ads are free to SSA members. No continuing ads will be accepted. They must be resubmitted
for each issue. Deadline dates are July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1.
Skylines News Articles:
The deadline for submitting articles for the next issue is June 23, 2003.
Send all ads and articles to:
Patti Begley, 26160 Highway 9, Los Gatos, CA 95033, or
SkylinesEditor@earthlink.net
We reserve the right to edit all submissions. We assume no responsibility for omissions,
incorrect information or personal opinions.
General Meeting
– April 25, 7:00 pm at Thomas Fogarty WineryBusiness Meetings at 7:15 pm
:Thurs. April 10 – Ruth Waldhauer
Thurs. May 15 – Bill Prince
Thurs. June 19 – Cliff Jenkins
(Call Dick Schwind for location and directions)
Vice President - Dick Schwind
Editor - Patti Begley